Industrial Visit

Last Wednesday, half of the class went to two bionexus status companies which are Stellagen Sdn. Bhd and Inno biologics Sdn. Bhd. Stellagen sdn bhd is a local biotechnology company with the primary objective of identifying, developing and commercialising technologies related to animal health, consumer health, microbiology and biochemical industries. This company was established on year 2003 founded by Tan Sri Syed Jalaluddin bin Syed Salim. It is located in Batu Caves, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

The core businesses of this company are research, development, production and commercialization of probiotics for poultry which is chicken. Stella gen has received many awards and recognition which are Gold Award at the Biotechnology Asia 2005 Exhibition, Gold Medal at the 14th International Invention, Innovation, Industrial Design and Technology Exhibition (I-TEX) 2003, Best Biotechnology award at the 14th International Invention, Innovation, Industrial Design and Technology Exhibition (I-TEX) 2003 and Gold Medal at the Universiti Putra Malaysia Invention and Research Exhibition 2003.


Currently, Stellagen is in the process of commercialising its first product, Stellarlac (tm), which has undergone a 12 years research in University Putra Malaysia. This product is a feed supplement for poultry and it is meant to replace the antibiotics as growth promoter. It is known as probiotic since the product is consisted of 11 strains of friendly bacteria that can improve a chicken's intestinal bacteria balance and its digestion of chicken feed. The examples of the Bacteria used for producing the probiotics are Lactobacillus brevis, L. salivarius, L. reuteri and L. gallinarum. All of the bacteria are grown in the bioreactors with 37 °C as the optimal growth temperature. It also helps to restore the presence of beneficial bacteria, which strengthen the intestinal system against disease-causing organisms. This makes StellarLac the most suitable alternative for antibiotics as growth promoter since the usage of the latter was banned internationally starting from 1 january 2006.

 Chicken supplemented with StellarLac are safe for human consumption as they are free from antibiotic residue and antibiotic growth promoters. They also have a lower content of fat and cholesterol. Therefore, the consumption of these chickens contributes to a healthier diet and lifestyle. Stellagen Company has brought us to visit their utility room, laboratory, fermentation room, cold room and last but not least is the packaging room. Utility room is where the productions of the raw material take part. Most of the raw materials are water and glucose. Reverse osmosis water is used as the supply material, cooling and boiling the system and sterilization. The multimedia filter and water softener machine are used to filter the raw water in order to become the reverse osmosis water.

Another company, which is Inno biologics Sdn.Bhd is specializes in mammalian cell culture technology and operates cGMP facility for the production of biopharmaceuticals. The facility is built to comply with European Medical Agency (EMEA) and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory requirements. This company offer complete services from upstream to downstream operation for the development of the therapeutic proteins. The difference between Stellagen and Inno Biologics is about the product and services offered.

 Stellagen Company is based on product offering while Inno Biologics Company is based on services offering. The product offered by Stellagen Company is probiotics, the friendly bacteria which can protect the chicken against infection or unhealthy intestinal imbalance. The services offered by Inno Biologics Company are including cell line development, process development, cGMP manufacturing, antibody services and training to customers. Compared to the Inno biologics Sdn. Bhd, Stellagen Sdn. Bhd is a small built company which only has five people working 24 hours together consist of one woman and four gentlemen.

Stellagen Sdn. Bhd is now planning to do probiotics research on duck, bird and fish in order to broaden their market potential in the future. In addition, they are also planning to penetrate five percent of the market potential in Malaysia. They are also going to increase their customer by penetrating the market in India, Iran, China and Maldives.

As the conclusion, even though Stellagen is a small built company, but they will have a bright future because there will be the increasing of awareness about the importance of probiotics used in chicken instead of by using antibiotics which can be dangerous for human health.

Top 10 Interview Mistakes

Most of the time, potential job candidates are not aware of the mistakes they make before and during the interview. These small mistakes that might cost them a job.

Number 10

Running Late Without Notice.

Turning up late for the interview and never calling to say you are running late will not give a good impression to your potential employer. If you are running late, do inform your interviewer and apologize that you are running late and ask if it is possible for you to attend the interview a little bit late or just request for the interview to be rescheduled if that is not possible.

Of course, the worst that could happen which could quash your employment chances is your attitude when you do not even bother to turn up at an interview without calling.

 

Number 9

Lack of Preparation

Preparation for an interview includes:

1. Research on the background of the company
2. Bring along an extra copy of your resumé and relevant supporting documents, just in case
3. Be prepared with the answers for possible common interview questions
4. Rehearse on your speech, clarity, confidence, etc. prior to the interview

In the event that you are required to attend an interview at short notice and you applied for a job with no company description stated in the ad, keep your cool and ask questions during the interview to know more about the company.
It is recommended that you carry an extra copy of your resumé in your working bag just in case you are called for a job interview during your lunch/tea break at short notice.

 

Number 8

Lack of Confidence/Over Confidence

Lack of confidence could be perceived by potential employers as your lack of preparation; being nervous could also be giving the impression that you are trying to cover something or is lying. Being over confident may turn interviewers off as you may be viewed as being too big-headed or you may be viewed as a braggart who talks more than you deliver.

 

Number 7

Talking Too Much

It is not wise to talk too much and fail to listen and understand the questions asked. Listen carefully to answer the questions asked, be clear and concise in your answers to show that you understood the question and are not just rambling for the sake of talking. Be specific and respond directly to the questions asked. Be careful with your selection of words and think before you say anything to decide if what you are going to say is necessary or appropriate.

 

Number 6

Inappropriate Dressing

Avoid revealing clothes or being underdressed - stick to conventional dressing, i.e. mono colours and minimal accessories.

 

Number 5

Body Language

Avoid weak or too strong handshakes, minimal or almost no eye contact with the interviewer and slouching when seated. Keep a straight back when seated and refrain from fidgeting or shaking your legs, twitching your nose, biting your nails or other signs that showed your nervousness. Take a deep breath to remain calm and be aware of your body language. Your body language tells your interviewers more about you than your speech.

 

Number 4

Criticising Your Previous Employers/Company/Colleagues or Complaining About Your Day

No one likes a person who complains, keep in mind that it is not a recommended icebreaker. You are being interviewed to promote yourself as the best possible candidate for the post, not to criticise others or complain about the train/car that broke down on your way to the interview.

 

Number 3

Lying or Concealing Information

Never attempt to lie or cover up any vital information, no matter how important you thought it was for you to conceal the information. You may land the job but how long it will be before you are found out?

 

Number 2

Failing to Ask Questions

Ask questions to show that you are interested in the job, lack of enthusiasm is a killer of your chances of employment.

 

Number 1

Money Talk

Never bring up talk on salary at the beginning of the interview. Only talk about salary or your employment package, i.e. remuneration, benefits, etc. when the interviewer asks you or the matter has not been brought up and the interview is near its end.

communication for leaders

 
Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience (Jago, 1982). This guide will help you through that process. To inspire your workers into higher levels of teamwork, there are certain things you must be, know, and, do. These do not come naturally, but are acquired through continual work and study. Good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their leadership skills.

Before we get started, lets define leadership. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.

Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership knowledge and skills. This is called Process Leadership. However, we know that we have traits that can influence our actions. This is called Trait Leadership, in that it was once common to believe that leaders were born rather than made. While leadership is learned, the skills and knowledge processed by the leader can be influenced by his or hers attributes or traits, such as beliefs, values, ethics and character.


Knowledge and skills contribute directly to the process of leadership, while the other attributes give the leader certain characteristics that make him or her unique.

Skills, knowledge, and attributes make the Leader, which is one of the Four Factors of Leadership:

Leader

You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can do. Also, note that it is the followers, not the leader or someone else who determines if the leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful you have to convince your followers, not yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed.

Followers

Different people require different styles of leadership. For example, a new hire requires more supervision than an experienced employee. A person who lacks motivation requires a different approach than one with a high degree of motivation. You must know your people! The fundamental starting point is having a good understanding of human nature, such as needs, emotions, and motivation. You must come to know your employees' be, know, and do attributes.

Communication

You lead through two-way communication. Much of it is nonverbal. For instance, when you “set the example,” that communicates to your people that you would not ask them to perform anything that you would not be willing to do. What and how you communicate either builds or harms the relationship between you and your employees.

Situation

All situations are different. What you do in one situation will not always work in another. You must use your judgment to decide the best course of action and the leadership style needed for each situation. For example, you may need to confront an employee for inappropriate behavior, but if the confrontation is too late or too early, too harsh or too weak, then the results may prove ineffective.

Also note that the situation normally has a greater effect on a leader's action than his or her traits. This is because while traits may have an impressive stability over a period of time, they have little consistency across situations (Mischel, 1968). This is why a number of leadership scholars think the Process Theory of Leadership is a more accurate than the Trait Theory of Leadership.

Various forces will affect these four factors. Examples of forces are your relationship with your seniors, the skill of your followers, the informal leaders within your organization, and how your organization is organized.

effective resume and cover letter

7 elements of a highly effective job search cover letter:

1. ADDRESS your cover letter to a REAL PERSON! Do your best to find out TO WHOM you should address your cover letter. "Dear Manager" is lifeless.
2. OPEN with an attention-grabbing first sentence to really grip the reader. This approach will almost guarantee your cover letter and resume get a much closer look.
3. REMEMBER -- Less is MORE! The best cover letters have plenty of white space. Clear, focused, short and sweet gets the interview every time.
4. FOCUS on what you can do for the employer. How can you benefit the company specifically? Do a little research and relate this value-added simply and clearly in your letter.
5. CHOOSE WORDS that show enthusiasm and passion for the position you seek … (big, big secret!) Then, carry this passion into the interview with you.
6. REQUEST ONE ACTION you want the employer to take: "I would really like the opportunity for a personal interview this week." (You never know until you ASK)!
7. END your cover letter with enthusiastic and telling verbiage, such as, "I look forward to being interviewed at your earliest convenience. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Sincerely, Jane Jobseeker." (Notice how Jane assumes she'll land the interview? This approach is clever, smart, and it works like a charm).

Think of your cover letter as a sales letter. The only purpose of your job-search cover letter is to land you job interviews. That's the bottom line. By using the proven marketing strategies I've outlined above, you will land a great number of quality job interviews than your competition. 

You must get your foot in the company door first to have any chance at all. With the right cover letter, you can blow several doors wide open immediately. More job interviews translate to a wider range of opportunity.

Finally, the most important advice I can offer you is this: Follow up every job lead, contact, and communication. Following up is the "golden key" to getting hired for the job of your dreams. Use follow-up cover letters, thank-you letters, and follow-up phone calls. Following up actually doubles your chance for success. It is also the one missing ingredient in 99 percent of all job seekers recipe book. Good news for you.

Now go out there and make your own luck!

conducting effectve meeting

All meetings need to have a goal or objective. It sounds elementary, but if you can’t think of a desired outcome of a meeting, then why meets at all? There are plenty of good reasons to meet, including communicating information, solving problems, learning a new skill, etc. But if you cannot easily identify one or more of these reasons, don’t move past this stage of planning. Writing down the goals will help to clarify and evaluate them more critically.

Assuming you can pass the goals and objectives test, the next question is who should attend. Invite only those persons who are directly affected and/or have relevant information. How often have you sat in a meeting wondering why you are there? It is interesting to note that productivity of the group increases as new members are added, but at some point an optimal level of effectiveness is reached. If we add participants beyond this optimal point, productivity starts to decline. Fewer participants are better, as the point of diminishing returns is reached quickly.

Once the goals are set and the participants determined, a few ground rules are useful:

1. Prepare a written agenda.
   
   Even if there is only one item on the agenda or the meeting is regularly scheduled, write it down and give copies to the participants. You owe it to them.
2. Arrive early.
   
   See that the meeting room is clean and necessary materials are available. Usually, something needs to be done to get a meeting place ready.
3. Start on time, end on time.
   
   It’s not fair to those who arrive on time to wait for those who don’t. Pace the meeting to keep the commitment to the promised adjournment time. Participants have planned other work around it.
4. No interruptions.
   
   Don’t allow outside interruptions or participants to interrupt each other. If they are present, their opinions are important.
5. Be a good participant.
   
   If you are a participant, you deserve a well-organized and a well-run meeting. Don’t tolerate a poor meeting. You are also expected to contribute to the success of the meeting.
6. Be a good facilitator.
   
   If you are the meeting facilitator, state the goals and objectives, keep it on schedule, and involve everyone in the process.
7. Summarize and follow up.
   
   Always review the results and develop a follow-up plan to insure that agreed upon action is taken.
   
   Be particularly careful of establishing a standing committee that meets regularly. Attending such meetings gets to be a habit, and habits are hard to break. These meetings can become part of the company culture, and it can be politically difficult to question such an established meeting. But it takes some courage to fight the war on meetings, and don’t be afraid to disband an obsolete practice.
   
   One weapon in the fight against nonproductive meetings may be mini-meetings. It may be possible to have several informal, short meetings during the day and get more done than in scheduled and more formal meetings.